Terminal, base station, communication method, and integrated circuit

Abstract

This terminal comprises: a reception circuit that, with respect to a first data signal and a second data signal of which at least one is repeatedly transmitted, receives first control information for scheduling the first data signal, and receives, after the first control information, second control information for scheduling the second data signal; and a control circuit which, on the basis of a first timing related to transmission of the first data signal and a second timing related to transmission of the second data signal, determines whether scheduling is a prescribed scheduling or not.

Description

Terminal, base station, communication method and integrated circuit

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal, a base station, a communication method, and an integrated circuit.

[0002] In recent years, the expansion and diversification of wireless services has led to the expectation of rapid development of the Internet of Things (IoT). Mobile communications are now being used in a wide range of applications, from smartphones and other information terminals to automobiles, homes, home appliances, and industrial equipment. To support this diversification, significant improvements in the performance and functionality of mobile communication systems are required, addressing various requirements, such as increased system capacity, an increased number of connected devices, and low latency. Fifth-generation mobile communication systems (5G) boast high-capacity and ultra-high-speed data transfer (eMBB: enhanced Mobile Broadband), massive machine-type communication (mMTC: massive machine-type communication), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC), enabling them to flexibly provide wireless communications tailored to diverse needs.

[0003] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an international standardization organization, is working on the specification of New Radio (NR) as one of the 5G wireless interfaces.

[0004] 3GPP TS38.104 V15.16.0, “NR Base Station (BS) radio transmission and reception (Release 15),” December 2021.RP-202928, “New WID on NR coverage enhancements,” China Telecom, December 2020.3GPP TS38.211 V17.1.0, “NR Physical channels and modulation (Release 17),” March 2022.3GPP TS38.212 V17.1.0, “NR Multiplexing and channel coding (Release 17),” March 2022.3GPP TS38.213 V17.1.0, “NR Physical layer procedures for control (Release 17),” March 2022.3GPP TS38.214 V17.1.0, “NR Physical layer procedures for data (Release 17),” March 2022.

[0005] However, there is room for further consideration regarding the method of transmitting signals in the uplink.

[0006] Non-limiting examples of the present disclosure contribute to providing a terminal, a base station, a communication method, and an integrated circuit that can improve the reception performance of signals in the uplink.

[0007] A terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving circuit that receives first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and receives second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information, and a control circuit that determines whether the scheduling is specified based on a first timing for transmitting the first data signal and a second timing for transmitting the second data signal.

[0008] These comprehensive or specific aspects may be realized as a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, or a recording medium, or may be realized as any combination of a system, an apparatus, a method, an integrated circuit, a computer program, and a recording medium.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, signals can be transmitted appropriately in the uplink.

[0010] Further advantages and benefits of one embodiment of the present disclosure will become apparent from the specification and drawings. Such advantages and / or benefits may be provided by some embodiments and features described in the specification and drawings, respectively, but not necessarily all of them may be provided to obtain one or more identical features.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of in-order scheduling and out-of-order scheduling; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) repetition Type A with available slot counting; Block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a base station; Block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a terminal; Block diagram showing a base station; Block diagram showing an example configuration example of a terminal; Flowchart showing an example of terminal operation; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of in-order scheduling and out-of-order scheduling; Schematic diagram showing the usage scenarios for 5G (Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications) and Ultra Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC) Block diagram showing an example 5G system architecture for a non-roaming scenario

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] In NR, for example, in addition to frequency bands below 6 GHz, such as the 700 MHz to 3.5 GHz band (also referred to as Frequency Range 1 (FR1)), which have been used for cellular communications, millimeter wave bands such as the 28 GHz or 39 GHz band (also referred to as Frequency Range 2 (FR2)), which can ensure wide bandwidth, can be utilized (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1). Furthermore, for example, in FR1, there is a possibility that a frequency band such as the 3.5 GHz band, which is higher than the frequency bands used in Long Term Evolution (LTE) or 3G (3rd Generation mobile communication systems), will be used.

[0014] The higher the frequency band, the greater the radio wave propagation loss and the more likely it is that radio wave reception quality will deteriorate. Therefore, when NR uses a frequency band higher than that of LTE or 3G, it is expected to ensure a communication area (or coverage) comparable to that of radio access technologies (RATs) such as LTE or 3G, in other words, to ensure appropriate communication quality. For example, 3GPP Release 17 (e.g., "Rel. 17") is considering a method for improving coverage in NR (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2).

[0015] In NR, a terminal (e.g., also referred to as user equipment (UE)) transmits and receives data in accordance with, for example, a layer 1 control signal (e.g., DCI: Downlink Control Information) on a downlink control channel (e.g., PDCCH: Physical Downlink Control Channel) from a base station (e.g., also referred to as gNB) or a resource allocation indicated by layer 3 Radio Resource Control (RRC) (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 3 to 6).

[0016] In the uplink (UL), for example, a terminal transmits an uplink data channel (e.g., a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)) in accordance with resource allocation (e.g., a Grant or UL grant) from a base station. Resource allocation information included in at least one of DCI and RRC may include, for example, information on time domain resources for transmitting the PUSCH. For example, the information on time domain resources may include information on the timing from a slot in which the terminal receives a PDCCH to the transmission of the PUSCH (e.g., K2), the position of the first symbol of the PUSCH in the slot, or information on the number of symbols for transmitting the PUSCH.

[0017] [Regarding In-order Scheduling and Out-of-order Scheduling] NR Release 15 or NR Release 16 (e.g., referred to as "NR Rel.15 / 16") specifies the scheduling of any two HARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest) process ID#A and HARQ process ID#B.

[0018] For example, in a terminal, if DCI (e.g., also referred to as PDCCH#A) scheduling PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., corresponding to HARQ process ID#A) is received in time earlier than DCI (e.g., also referred to as PDCCH#B) scheduling PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., corresponding to HARQ process ID#B), the terminal does not assume that PUSCH#B is scheduled to be transmitted before PUSCH#A.

[0019] Hereinafter, for any two HARQ process IDs, HARQ process ID #A and #B, if the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #A is received temporally earlier than the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #B, the scheduling of PUSCH #B to be transmitted to the terminal before PUSCH #A is referred to as "out-of-order scheduling."

[0020] FIG. 1 shows an example of out-of-order scheduling and an example of regular scheduling (for example, referred to as "in-order scheduling").

[0021] The NR Rel.15 / 16 standard specifies that a terminal (UE) does not assume out-of-order scheduling as follows (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 6): "For any two HARQ process IDs in a given scheduled cell, if the UE is scheduled to start a first PUSCH transmission starting in symbol j by a PDCCH ending in symbol i, the UE is not expected to be scheduled to transmit a PUSCH starting earlier than the end of the first PUSCH by a PDCCH that ends later than symbol i."

[0022] Since out-of-order scheduling is not assumed for terminals, the operation of terminals in the case of out-of-order scheduling is not defined in the standards. Therefore, for example, a base station is expected to schedule PUSCHs in a manner that does not result in out-of-order scheduling.

[0023] [Repetition] NR uplink transmission supports a method of transmitting a PUSCH using multiple slots (also called repetition or repeated transmission). When repetition is applied, information on the time domain resource for transmitting the PUSCH may include information on the number of repetitions.

[0024] For example, in NR Rel. 15 / 16, two PUSCH repetition methods are defined for PUSCH repetition (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 6).

[0025] The first PUSCH repetition method is slot-based repetition, in which the same time resource allocation is applied across multiple consecutive slots. Hereinafter, this PUSCH repetition method will be referred to as "PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting."

[0026] The second PUSCH repetition method is a repetition that allows one or more PUSCHs to be repeatedly transmitted within one slot. Hereinafter, this PUSCH repetition method will be referred to as "PUSCH repetition Type B." In PUSCH repetition Type B, the base station may, for example, notify the terminal of the time domain resource and the number of repetitions for the first (initial) PUSCH transmission. In time domain resource allocation for the second or subsequent PUSCH transmissions, for example, time domain resources corresponding to consecutive symbols and the same number of symbols as those in the previous PUSCH transmission may be allocated to the PUSCH.

[0027] In PUSCH repetition Type A with continuous slot counting, the number of repeated slots may be, for example, a value counted based on consecutive slots. NR Release 17 (e.g., referred to as "NR Rel. 17") introduces a method of setting the number of repeated slots to a value counted based on uplink slots (available slots) that can be used for PUSCH transmission as a functional extension of PUSCH repetition Type A (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 2 and Non-Patent Document 6). Hereinafter, this PUSCH repetition method will be referred to as "PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting."

[0028] This concludes the explanation of repetition.

[0029] In PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting, the number of repetition slots is counted based on uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission. Furthermore, a method for determining uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission may depend on, for example, slot format indication (SFI) notification (e.g., semi-static SFI) configured in advance by RRC and information on time resource allocation for PUSCH transmission.

[0030] In this case, the terminal may determine whether to actually transmit a PUSCH in each uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission, for example, based on dynamic notification (e.g., notification by DCI). For example, the dynamic notification may include a dynamic SFI notification, an uplink transmission cancellation indication (UL CI), and allocation of a high-priority uplink transmission. Even if the terminal does not transmit a PUSCH in any of the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission based on the dynamic notification, the slot may be counted as part of the number of repeated slots.

[0031] 2 is a diagram showing an example in which, among uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission (e.g., PUSCH transmission occasions n=0 to 3), PUSCH is not transmitted (e.g., PUSCH transmission is dropped) in some slots (e.g., slots corresponding to PUSCH transmission occasion n=3) due to dynamic notification (e.g., notification by DCI). In this case, the number of slots in which PUSCH is actually transmitted is three slots, but the number of repetition slots in PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting may be four slots, including the slot corresponding to PUSCH transmission occasion n=3.

[0032] In NR Rel.15 / 16, the criterion for determining whether a PUSCH transmission is "in-order scheduling" or "out-of-order scheduling" is "whether PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) when the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #A (HARQ process ID #A or first PUSCH) is received temporally before the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #B (HARQ process ID #B)."

[0033] For example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it is determined to be "out-of-order scheduling." Also, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted after the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it is determined to be "in-order scheduling."

[0034] In PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting, the slot (or symbol) at which PUSCH transmission starts and the last slot (or symbol) of PUSCH transmission are determined based on uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission. Furthermore, there are cases where PUSCH is not transmitted in a certain uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission due to dynamic notification (for example, when PUSCH transmission is dropped).

[0035] Therefore, for example, if the PUSCH transmission in the first slot of the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission is dropped, the slot in which the PUSCH transmission actually starts may be the next uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission after the first slot.

[0036] Furthermore, for example, when PUSCH transmission in the last slot of uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission is dropped, the slot in which PUSCH transmission actually ends may be a slot before the last slot.

[0037] For example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission, there is room for consideration regarding the settings of "the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH)" and "the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled" to determine "whether PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH)," which are criteria for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0038] In one non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for appropriately determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission will be described.

[0039] For example, in a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (first PUSCH) and the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled are clearly defined for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is performed. As a result, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to either or both of PUSCH #A and PUSCH #B transmissions, the terminal can determine whether the allocation of the PUSCH transmission is out-of-order scheduling.

[0040] Non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below.

[0041] [Overview of Communication System] A communication system according to each embodiment of the present disclosure includes, for example, at least one base station and at least one terminal.

[0042] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a base station 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of a terminal 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] In the base station 100 shown in Fig. 3, a transmitter (e.g., corresponding to a transmission circuit) transmits first control information (e.g., PDCCH #A) for scheduling a first data signal (e.g., PUSCH #A) and a second data signal (e.g., PUSCH #B), at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and transmits second control information (e.g., PDCCH #B) for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information. A controller (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) determines whether or not the scheduling is standard (or regular) scheduling (e.g., in-order scheduling) based on a first timing related to reception of the first data signal (e.g., the last timing of PUSCH reception #A) and a second timing related to reception of the second data signal (e.g., the timing when PUSCH reception #B is scheduled).

[0044] In terminal 200 shown in Fig. 4, a receiving unit (e.g., corresponding to a receiving circuit) receives first control information (e.g., PDCCH #A) for scheduling a first data signal (e.g., PUSCH #A) and a second data signal (e.g., PUSCH #B), at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and receives second control information (e.g., PDCCH #B) for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information. A control unit (e.g., corresponding to a control circuit) determines whether or not prescribed (or regular) scheduling (e.g., in-order scheduling) is performed based on a first timing related to the transmission of the first data signal (e.g., the last timing of PUSCH transmission #A) and a second timing related to the transmission of the second data signal (e.g., the timing when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled).

[0045] (Embodiment 1) [Configuration of Base Station] Fig. 5 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a base station 100 according to embodiment 1. In Fig. 5, the base station 100 has a control unit 101, a higher-level control signal generation unit 102, a downlink control information generation unit 103, an encoding unit 104, a modulation unit 105, a signal allocation unit 106, a transmission unit 107, a reception unit 108, an extraction unit 109, a demodulation unit 110, and a decoding unit 111.

[0046] At least one of the control unit 101, higher-level control signal generation unit 102, downlink control information generation unit 103, coding unit 104, modulation unit 105, signal allocation unit 106, extraction unit 109, demodulation unit 110, and decoding unit 111 shown in Fig. 5 may be included in the control unit shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the transmission unit 107 shown in Fig. 5 may be included in the transmission unit shown in Fig. 3.

[0047] The control unit 101, for example, determines information related to PUSCH transmission and outputs the determined information to at least one of the higher control signal generation unit 102 and the downlink control information generation unit 103. The information related to PUSCH transmission may include, for example, time domain resource allocation information (e.g., TDRA: Time Domain Resource Allocation). Furthermore, the control unit 101 outputs the determined information to the extraction unit 109, the demodulation unit 110, and the decoding unit 111.

[0048] Furthermore, for example, when scheduling multiple (e.g., two) PUSCH transmissions to terminal 200, control unit 101 may perform scheduling using a method described below so as to satisfy regular scheduling (e.g., in-order scheduling) (e.g., not out-of-order scheduling).

[0049] Furthermore, the control unit 101 determines, for example, information related to a higher control signal or a downlink signal for transmitting downlink control information (for example, a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) and radio resource allocation), and outputs the determined information to the coding unit 104, the modulation unit 105, and the signal allocation unit 106. Furthermore, the control unit 101 outputs, for example, information related to the downlink signal (for example, a higher control signal) to the downlink control information generation unit 103.

[0050] The higher-level control signal generating section 102 generates a higher-level layer control signal bit string based on information input from the control section 101 , for example, and outputs the higher-level layer control signal bit string to the encoding section 104 .

[0051] The downlink control information generating unit 103 generates a downlink control information (e.g., DCI) bit string based on, for example, information input from the control unit 101, and outputs the generated DCI bit string to the encoding unit 104. Note that the control information may be transmitted to multiple terminals.

[0052] For example, based on information input from the control unit 101, the coding unit 104 codes the bit sequence input from the higher control signal generation unit 102 or the DCI bit sequence input from the downlink control information generation unit 103. The coding unit 104 outputs the coded bit sequence to the modulation unit 105.

[0053] The modulation unit 105 modulates the coded bit sequence input from the coding unit 104, for example, based on information input from the control unit 101, and outputs the modulated signal (for example, a symbol sequence) to the signal allocation unit 106.

[0054] The signal allocation unit 106 maps the symbol sequence (including, for example, a control signal) input from the modulation unit 105 to the radio resource based on, for example, information indicating the radio resource input from the control unit 101. The signal allocation unit 106 outputs the downlink signal onto which the signal has been mapped to the transmission unit 107.

[0055] The transmitting unit 107 performs, for example, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission waveform generation processing on the signal input from the signal allocating unit 106. Furthermore, in the case of OFDM transmission that adds a cyclic prefix (CP), the transmitting unit 107 performs inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) processing on the signal and adds the CP to the signal after the IFFT. Furthermore, the transmitting unit 107 performs RF processing, such as D / A conversion or up-conversion, on the signal and transmits the radio signal to the terminal 200 via an antenna.

[0056] The receiving unit 108 performs RF processing such as downconvert or A / D conversion on an uplink signal received from the terminal 200 via an antenna. In addition, in the case of OFDM transmission, the receiving unit 108 performs Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing on the received signal, for example, and outputs the resulting frequency domain signal to the extracting unit 109.

[0057] The extraction unit 109 extracts, for example, based on information input from the control unit 101, a radio resource portion from which an uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) is transmitted, from the received signal input from the receiving unit 108, and outputs the extracted radio resource portion to the demodulation unit 110.

[0058] The demodulation unit 110 demodulates the uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) input from the extraction unit 109, for example, based on information input from the control unit 101. The demodulation unit 110 outputs the demodulation result to the decoding unit 111, for example.

[0059] The decoding unit 111 performs error correction decoding of the uplink data signal (e.g., PUSCH) based on, for example, information input from the control unit 101 and the demodulation result input from the demodulation unit 110, and obtains a decoded received bit sequence.

[0060] [Terminal Configuration] Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a terminal 200 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, in Fig. 6, the terminal 200 includes a receiving unit 201, an extracting unit 202, a demodulating unit 203, a decoding unit 204, a control unit 205, an encoding unit 206, a modulating unit 207, a signal allocating unit 208, and a transmitting unit 209.

[0061] At least one of extraction unit 202, demodulation unit 203, decoding unit 204, control unit 205, encoding unit 206, modulation unit 207, and signal allocation unit 208 shown in Fig. 6 may be included in the control unit shown in Fig. 4. Furthermore, reception unit 201 shown in Fig. 6 may be included in the reception unit shown in Fig. 4.

[0062] The receiving unit 201 receives, for example, a downlink signal (e.g., downlink control information) from the base station 100 via an antenna, and performs RF processing such as downconverting or A / D conversion on the radio received signal to obtain a received signal (baseband signal). Furthermore, when receiving an OFDM signal, the receiving unit 201 performs FFT processing on the received signal to convert it into the frequency domain. The receiving unit 201 outputs the received signal to the extracting unit 202.

[0063] For example, based on information relating to the radio resource of the downlink control information input from the control unit 205, the extraction unit 202 extracts a radio resource portion that may include downlink control information from the received signal input from the receiving unit 201, and outputs the extracted radio resource portion to the demodulation unit 203. Furthermore, based on information relating to the radio resource of the data signal input from the control unit 205, the extraction unit 202 extracts a radio resource portion that includes downlink data, and outputs the extracted radio resource portion to the demodulation unit 203.

[0064] The demodulation unit 203 demodulates the signal (for example, PDCCH or PDSCH) input from the extraction unit 202 based on information input from the control unit 205 , for example, and outputs the demodulation result to the decoding unit 204 .

[0065] The decoding unit 204 performs error correction decoding of the PDCCH or PDSCH using the demodulation result input from the demodulation unit 203, for example, based on information input from the control unit 205, to obtain, for example, an upper layer control signal or downlink control information. The decoding unit 204 outputs the upper layer control signal and the downlink control information to the control unit 205. Furthermore, the decoding unit 204 may generate a response signal (for example, ACK / NACK) based on the decoding result of the PDSCH.

[0066] The control unit 205 determines radio resources for PUSCH transmission using a method described later, for example, based on a signal (for example, an upper layer control signal or downlink control information) input from the decoding unit 204. The control unit 205 outputs the determined information to, for example, the encoding unit 206 and the signal allocation unit 208.

[0067] The encoding unit 206 encodes an uplink data signal (UL data signal) or an uplink control signal, for example, based on information input from the control unit 205. The encoding unit 206 outputs the encoded bit string to the modulation unit 207.

[0068] The modulation unit 207 modulates, for example, the coded bit sequence input from the coding unit 206 and outputs the modulated signal (symbol sequence) to the signal allocation unit 208 .

[0069] The signal allocation unit 208 maps the signal (e.g., a sequence) input from the modulation unit 207 to a radio resource, for example, based on information input from the control unit 205. The signal allocation unit 208 outputs the uplink signal onto which the signal is mapped to the transmission unit 209, for example.

[0070] The transmitter 209 generates a transmission signal waveform, such as OFDM, for the signal input from the signal allocation unit 208. Furthermore, in the case of OFDM transmission using a CP, for example, the transmitter 209 performs IFFT processing on the signal and adds a CP to the signal after the IFFT. Alternatively, when the transmitter 209 generates a single-carrier waveform, a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) unit (not shown) may be added after the modulator 207 or before the signal allocation unit 208. Furthermore, the transmitter 209 performs RF processing, such as D / A conversion and up-conversion, on the transmission signal, and transmits the radio signal to the base station 100 via an antenna.

[0071] [Example of Operation of Base Station 100 and Terminal 200] An example of operation of the base station 100 and terminal 200 having the above configuration will be described.

[0072] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal 200.

[0073] In FIG. 7, terminal 200 receives and decodes, for example, DCI for PUSCH#A (DCI for scheduling PUSCH#A) (S101).

[0074] Terminal 200 determines, for example, slots available for PUSCH#A (S102). The slots available for PUSCH#A may be determined based on, for example, a prior setting by RRC and DCI for PUSCH#A decoded in the process of S101.

[0075] The terminal 200 receives and decodes, for example, DCI for PUSCH#B (DCI for scheduling PUSCH#B) (S103).

[0076] Terminal 200 determines, for example, whether or not the scheduling for PUSCH#A and PUSCH#B is out-of-order scheduling (S104). An example of a method for determining whether or not the scheduling is out-of-order scheduling will be described later.

[0077] If it is not determined that out-of-order scheduling is being performed (S104: No), for example, in the case of in-order scheduling, terminal 200 may transmit each of PUSCH#A and PUSCH#B (S105).

[0078] If it is determined that out-of-order scheduling occurs (S104: Yes), the operation of terminal 200 (UE behavior) does not need to be defined (S106). Terminal 200 does not need to anticipate (or assume) scheduling of transmission of PUSCH#A and PUSCH#B that results in out-of-order scheduling. For example, in this case, terminal 200 may determine not to transmit PUSCH#A and PUSCH#B, or may determine not to transmit either PUSCH#A or PUSCH#B (for example, PUSCH#B).

[0079] Furthermore, for example, base station 100 may determine whether or not scheduling for PUSCH#A and PUSCH#B is out-of-order scheduling, similar to terminal 200. For example, if base station 100 determines that scheduling is not out-of-order scheduling (or that scheduling is in-order scheduling), it may actually perform the scheduling (for example, regular scheduling). Furthermore, for example, if base station 100 determines that scheduling is out-of-order scheduling, it may not perform the scheduling, or may decide not to receive PUSCH#A and PUSCH#B, or may decide not to receive either PUSCH#A or PUSCH#B (for example, PUSCH#B).

[0080] In addition, in FIG. 7, the transmission of PUSCH#A may be performed before the reception and decoding of DCI for PUSCH#B (for example, the processing of S103).

[0081] Next, an example of a method for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs will be described.

[0082] In the present embodiment, the criterion for determining whether PUSCH transmission is in-order scheduling or out-of-order scheduling is, for example, "whether PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., HARQ process ID #A or first PUSCH) when the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., HARQ process ID #A or first PUSCH) is received temporally earlier than the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., HARQ process ID #B)."

[0083] According to this criterion, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be out-of-order scheduling. Also, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted after the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be in-order scheduling.

[0084] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #A, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH, which is the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on uplink slots that can be used for PUSCH transmission #A (for example, repeated transmission of PUSCH #A).

[0085] For example, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH for PUSCH#A transmission, which is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission#A, is independent of an operation in which PUSCH is not transmitted due to dynamic notification in any of the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission#A (e.g., an operation in which PUSCH transmission is dropped).

[0086] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled (or the timing at which PUSCH #B is scheduled to be transmitted), which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on information (for example, the value of K2) regarding the timing from the slot in which terminal 200 receives DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B to the time at which PUSCH is transmitted.

[0087] For example, if the value of K2 notified by the DCI that schedules PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing that is later than the end of the first PUSCH of PUSCH transmission #A that is determined based on the available uplink slots, terminal 200 determines that this is in-order scheduling.

[0088] On the other hand, if the value of K2 notified by the DCI that schedules PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing that precedes the end of the first PUSCH of PUSCH transmission #A that is determined based on the available uplink slots, terminal 200 determines that this is out-of-order scheduling (or that this is not in-order scheduling).

[0089] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of out-of-order scheduling and regular scheduling (in-order scheduling).

[0090] In the example shown in Fig. 8, PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 4 is applied to PUSCH #A, and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 2 is applied to PUSCH #B. Also, in the example shown in Fig. 8, PUSCH transmission #A is dropped in slot #8.

[0091] For example, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH transmission #A, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A, regardless of whether PUSCH transmission #A is dropped. In the example shown in Fig. 8 , the uplink slots (UL slots) available for PUSCH transmission #A are slots #3, #4, #7, and #8, and therefore the timing of the end of the first PUSCH transmission #A is slot #8. Therefore, slot #8 may be set as the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0092] For example, as shown in Fig. 8, when K2 = 7 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #9. Therefore, in this case, K2 = 7 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B is to be performed at a timing later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), and therefore terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is being performed.

[0093] 8 , for example, when K2=6 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #8. Therefore, in this case, K2=6 indicates that PUSCH #B is to be transmitted at a timing (for example, a symbol (for example, the first symbol) before the last symbol of slot #8) before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: for example, the last symbol of slot #8), and therefore terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0094] Here, in PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting, uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission can be determined depending on slot format notification previously configured by RRC and information related to time resource allocation for PUSCH transmission. Thus, terminal 200 can determine uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission, for example, at the time of receiving (or decoding) DCI scheduling the PUSCH. Meanwhile, whether or not to actually transmit a PUSCH in each uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission is determined for each slot by dynamic notification.

[0095] According to the present embodiment, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is determined based on uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A. Thus, terminal 200 can determine the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) at the time when DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #A is received (or decoded). Therefore, after DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #A is received (or decoded), the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is not dynamically updated.

[0096] Therefore, for example, at the time when terminal 200 receives (or decodes) DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #A, terminal 200 can determine that the next allocated regular PUSCH transmission will be scheduled after the last PUSCH #A transmission determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A. Therefore, this embodiment has the advantage that terminal 200 can simplify the process of determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling is being performed.

[0097] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of out-of-order scheduling and regular scheduling (in-order scheduling).

[0098] In the example shown in FIG. 9, PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of four is applied to PUSCH #A, and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of two is applied to PUSCH #B.

[0099] 9, slot #7 and slot #8 are uplink slots that can be used for PUSCH transmission #A, but are uplink slots that cannot be used for PUSCH transmission #B. For example, slot #7 and slot #8 may include N uplink symbols, and there may be cases where N or fewer symbols are allocated to PUSCH transmission #A, and more than N symbols are allocated to PUSCH transmission #B.

[0100] In this case, as shown in Fig. 9, for example, if K2 (e.g., K2 = 5) indicates that the transmission start position of PUSCH #B is slot #7, PUSCH transmission #B may be postponed to transmission from slot #9 based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission. In the example shown in Fig. 9, the uplink slot for PUSCH transmission #B may be postponed from slots #7 and #8 to slots #9 and #13.

[0101] For example, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is occurring, may be determined based on information (e.g., the value of K2) regarding the timing from the slot in which terminal 200 receives DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B to the time at which PUSCH is transmitted, regardless of whether the transmission of PUSCH transmission #B is postponed to a later slot.

[0102] For example, as shown in Fig. 9, when K2 = 7 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #9. Therefore, in this case, K2 = 7 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B will be performed at a timing later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), and therefore terminal 200 determines that this is in-order scheduling.

[0103] 9 , for example, when K2=5 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #7. In this case, although the slot for PUSCH #B is postponed to slots #9 and #13, K2=5 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B is to occur at a timing before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), and therefore terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0104] As described above, in the present embodiment, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is performed, is determined based on information (for example, the value of K2) relating to the timing from the slot in which terminal 200 receives DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B to the time at which PUSCH is transmitted, regardless of whether transmission of PUSCH transmission #B is postponed to a later slot. As a result, regular PUSCH transmission allocated to terminal 200 after PUSCH transmission #A is scheduled by K2 to be later than the last PUSCH #A transmission determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0105] In this case, since multiple PUSCH allocations do not overlap in time, terminal 200 does not need to determine whether a certain slot is an uplink slot that can be used for multiple PUSCH transmissions, and it is only necessary to specify the scheduling of one PUSCH transmission, which has the advantage of simplifying the processing of terminal 200.

[0106] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of out-of-order scheduling and regular scheduling (in-order scheduling).

[0107] In the example shown in Fig. 10, PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 4 is applied to PUSCH #A, and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 2 is applied to PUSCH #B. Also, in the example shown in Fig. 10, the transmission of PUSCH transmission #B is dropped in slot #8.

[0108] For example, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is occurring, may be determined based on information (e.g., the value of K2) regarding the timing from the slot in which terminal 200 receives DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B to the time when PUSCH is transmitted, regardless of whether PUSCH transmission #B is dropped.

[0109] For example, as shown in Fig. 10, when K2 = 7 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #9. Therefore, in this case, K2 = 7 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B will be performed at a timing later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), and therefore terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is being performed.

[0110] 10, for example, when K2=6 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #8. Also, as shown in FIG. 10, when K2=6 is notified, PUSCH transmission #B in slot #8 is dropped. In this case, although the timing at which PUSCH #B is actually transmitted is slot #9 (a timing after slot #8), K2=6 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B is to be transmitted at a timing (for example, a symbol (for example, the first symbol) before the last symbol of slot #8) before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: for example, the last symbol of slot #8), and therefore terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0111] Here, in PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting, uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission can be determined depending on slot format notification previously configured by RRC and information related to time resource allocation for PUSCH transmission. Thus, terminal 200 can determine uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission, for example, at the time of receiving (or decoding) DCI scheduling the PUSCH. Meanwhile, whether or not to actually transmit a PUSCH in each uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission is determined for each slot by dynamic notification.

[0112] According to the present embodiment, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, can be determined at the time when DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B is received (or decoded). Therefore, after DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B is received (or decoded), the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is not dynamically updated.

[0113] Therefore, terminal 200 can determine whether PUSCH transmission #B is out-of-order scheduling or not, for example, at the time when terminal 200 receives (or decodes) DCI that schedules PUSCH transmission #B, which has the advantage of simplifying the processing of terminal 200.

[0114] An example of the operation of the base station 100 and the terminal 200 has been described above.

[0115] As described above, in the present embodiment, for PUSCH #A and PUSCH #B, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, terminal 200 receives DCI (e.g., PDCCH #A) that schedules PUSCH #A, and receives DCI (e.g., PDCCH #B) that schedules PDSCH #B after PDCCH #A. At this time, terminal 200 determines whether the scheduling is specified scheduling (e.g., in-order scheduling) based on the timing related to PDSCH transmission #A and the timing related to PDSCH transmission #B.

[0116] For example, in this embodiment, if the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is determined based on information (e.g., the value of K2) regarding the timing from the slot in which DCI scheduling PUSCH #B is received to the slot in which PDSCH #B is transmitted, is before the last timing of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on slots that can be used for repeated transmission of PDSCH #A, terminal 200 determines that this is not in-order scheduling (e.g., specified scheduling), in other words, out-of-order scheduling.

[0117] This clearly defines the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) and the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling occurs, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission, for example. Thus, according to the present embodiment, even when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to either or both of PUSCH #A and PUSCH #B transmissions, terminal 200 can appropriately determine whether or not the allocation of the PUSCH transmission is out-of-order scheduling.

[0118] Therefore, according to this embodiment, terminal 200 can appropriately transmit signals in the uplink.

[0119] Second Embodiment The configurations of base station 100 and terminal 200 according to this embodiment may be the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0120] In this embodiment, the criterion for determining whether PUSCH transmission is in-order scheduling or out-of-order scheduling is, for example, as in embodiment 1, "whether PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., the end of the first PUSCH) when the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., HARQ process ID #A or the first PUSCH) is received temporally earlier than the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., HARQ process ID #B)."

[0121] According to this criterion, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be out-of-order scheduling. Also, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted after the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be in-order scheduling.

[0122] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #A, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH in PUSCH transmission, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., repeated transmission of PUSCH #A) (e.g., slot in which PUSCH #A is actually transmitted).

[0123] For example, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH, which is determined based on the slot in which PUSCH #A is actually transmitted, may depend on an operation in which PUSCH is not transmitted due to dynamic notification in any of the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., an operation in which PUSCH transmission is dropped).

[0124] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled (or the timing at which PUSCH #B is scheduled to be transmitted), which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on information (for example, the value of K2) regarding the timing from the slot in which terminal 200 receives DCI scheduling PUSCH transmission #B to the time at which PUSCH is transmitted, as in the first embodiment.

[0125] For example, if the value of K2 notified by the DCI that schedules PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing that is later than the end of the first PUSCH that is actually transmitted in PUSCH transmission #A, terminal 200 determines that this is in-order scheduling.

[0126] On the other hand, if the value of K2 notified by the DCI that schedules PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing earlier than the end of the first PUSCH that is actually transmitted in PUSCH transmission #A, terminal 200 determines that it is out-of-order scheduling (or not in-order scheduling).

[0127] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of out-of-order scheduling and regular scheduling (in-order scheduling).

[0128] In the example shown in Fig. 11, PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 4 is applied to PUSCH #A, and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 2 is applied to PUSCH #B. Also, in the example shown in Fig. 11, the transmission of PUSCH transmission #A is dropped in slot #8.

[0129] For example, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is determined based on the PUSCH transmission #A that is actually transmitted, depending on whether the transmission of PUSCH transmission #A is dropped. In the example shown in Fig. 11 , uplink slots (UL slots) available for PUSCH transmission #A are slots #3, #4, #7, and #8, and since PUSCH transmission #A in slot #8 is dropped, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) is slot #7, which is the last of slots #3, #4, and #7 that are actually used for transmission. Therefore, slot #7 may be set as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0130] For example, as shown in Fig. 11, when K2 = 7 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #9. Therefore, in this case, K2 = 7 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B is to be performed at a timing later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #7), and therefore terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is being performed.

[0131] 11 , for example, when K2=6 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #8. Therefore, in this case, K2=6 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B is to be performed at a timing later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #7), and therefore terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is being performed.

[0132] 11 , for example, when K2=5 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled is slot #7. Therefore, in this case, K2=5 indicates that PUSCH transmission #B is to be performed at a timing (for example, a symbol (for example, the first symbol) before the last symbol of slot #7) before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: the last symbol of slot #7), and therefore terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0133] In this embodiment, if the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is determined based on information (e.g., the value of K2) regarding the timing from the slot in which DCI scheduling PUSCH #B is received to the slot in which PDSCH #B is transmitted, is before the final timing of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on the slot actually used for repeated transmission of PDSCH #A, terminal 200 determines that it is not in-order scheduling (e.g., specified scheduling), in other words, out-of-order scheduling.

[0134] In this way, as in embodiment 1, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) and the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled are clearly defined for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling occurs. Thus, terminal 200 can appropriately determine whether or not PUSCH transmission allocation is out-of-order scheduling.

[0135] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, for example, as in the case of K2=6 shown in FIG. 11, a slot in which PUSCH transmission #A is dropped can be used for PUSCH transmission #B, thereby improving the utilization efficiency of uplink resources.

[0136] Third Embodiment The configurations of base station 100 and terminal 200 according to this embodiment may be the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0137] In this embodiment, the criterion for determining whether PUSCH transmission is in-order scheduling or out-of-order scheduling is, for example, as in embodiment 1, "whether PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., the end of the first PUSCH) when the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., HARQ process ID #A or the first PUSCH) is received temporally earlier than the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., HARQ process ID #B)."

[0138] According to this criterion, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be out-of-order scheduling. Also, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted after the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be in-order scheduling.

[0139] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #A, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on uplink slots that can be used for PUSCH transmission #A (for example, repeated transmission of PUSCH #A), as in the first embodiment.

[0140] For example, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH for PUSCH#A transmission, which is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission#A, is independent of an operation in which PUSCH is not transmitted due to dynamic notification in any of the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission#A (e.g., an operation in which PUSCH transmission is dropped).

[0141] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on uplink slots that can be used for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., repeated transmission of PUSCH #B).

[0142] For example, if the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing that is later than the end of the first PUSCH of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on the available uplink slots, terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is being performed.

[0143] On the other hand, if the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing earlier than the end of the first PUSCH of PUSCH transmission #A determined based on the available uplink slot, terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is being performed (or that in-order scheduling is not being performed).

[0144] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of out-of-order scheduling and regular scheduling (in-order scheduling).

[0145] In the example shown in FIG. 12, PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of four is applied to PUSCH #A, and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of two is applied to PUSCH #B.

[0146] 12, slot #7 and slot #8 are uplink slots that can be used for PUSCH transmission #A, but are uplink slots that cannot be used for PUSCH transmission #B. For example, slot #7 and slot #8 may include N uplink symbols, and there may be cases where N or fewer symbols are allocated to PUSCH transmission #A, and more than N symbols are allocated to PUSCH transmission #B.

[0147] In the example shown in Fig. 12, for example, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A. In the example shown in Fig. 12, the uplink slots (UL slots) available for PUSCH transmission #A are slots #3, #4, #7, and #8, and therefore the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) is slot #8. Therefore, slot #8 may be set as the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is being performed for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0148] For example, as shown in Fig. 12 , when K2 = 7 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #B are slots #9 and #13. Therefore, slot #9 may be set as the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is performed for PUSCH transmission #B. In this case, the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission B is later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), and therefore terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is performed.

[0149] 12 , for example, when K2=5 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #B may be set to slots #9 and #13 (or postponed). Therefore, slot #9 may be set as the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is performed for PUSCH transmission #B. In this case, since the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission B is later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is performed.

[0150] 12 , for example, when K2=2 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #B may be set to slots #4 and #9 (or may be partially postponed). Therefore, slot #4 may be set as the criterion for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling is occurring for PUSCH transmission #B. In this case, since the uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission B is located before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0151] In this embodiment, if the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B, which is determined based on the slots available for PDSCH transmission #B, is scheduled is before the last timing of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on the slots available for PDSCH transmission #A, terminal 200 determines that this is not in-order scheduling (e.g., specified scheduling), in other words, that this is out-of-order scheduling.

[0152] In this way, as in embodiment 1, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) and the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled are clearly defined for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling occurs. Thus, terminal 200 can appropriately determine whether or not PUSCH transmission allocation is out-of-order scheduling.

[0153] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, an uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission #B is set as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, and therefore, even if the range of values ​​that can be indicated by the value of K2 is narrow, it is possible to allocate PUSCH transmission #B without causing out-of-order scheduling. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 12 , when the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs is set by the value of K2 as in the first embodiment, K2 = 7 or more is set to allocate PUSCH transmission #B without causing out-of-order scheduling, whereas according to the present embodiment, even when K2 = 5, it is possible to allocate PUSCH transmission #B without causing out-of-order scheduling.

[0154] (Fourth Embodiment) The configurations of base station 100 and terminal 200 according to this embodiment may be the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0155] In this embodiment, the criterion for determining whether PUSCH transmission is in-order scheduling or out-of-order scheduling is, for example, as in embodiment 1, "whether PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., the end of the first PUSCH) when the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., HARQ process ID #A or the first PUSCH) is received temporally earlier than the scheduling DCI for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., HARQ process ID #B)."

[0156] According to this criterion, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be out-of-order scheduling. Also, for example, when PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled to be transmitted after the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH), it may be determined to be in-order scheduling.

[0157] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #A, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on uplink slots that can be used for PUSCH transmission #A (for example, repeated transmission of PUSCH #A), as in the first embodiment.

[0158] For example, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH for PUSCH#A transmission, which is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission#A, is independent of an operation in which PUSCH is not transmitted due to dynamic notification in any of the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission#A (e.g., an operation in which PUSCH transmission is dropped).

[0159] Furthermore, in the present embodiment, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be determined based on the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., repeated transmission of PUSCH #B) (or the slot in which PUSCH #B is actually transmitted).

[0160] For example, if the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing later than the end of the first PUSCH of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on the available uplink slots, terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is being performed.

[0161] On the other hand, if the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B indicates a timing earlier than the end of the first PUSCH of PUSCH transmission #A determined based on the available uplink slots, terminal 200 determines that it is out-of-order scheduling (or not in-order scheduling).

[0162] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of out-of-order scheduling and regular scheduling (in-order scheduling).

[0163] In the example shown in Fig. 13, PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 4 is applied to PUSCH #A, and PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting with a repetition count of 2 is applied to PUSCH #B. Also, in the example shown in Fig. 13, PUSCH transmission #B is dropped in slot #7 or slot #8.

[0164] For example, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH transmission #A, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A, regardless of whether PUSCH transmission #A is dropped. In the example shown in Fig. 13 , the uplink slots (UL slots) available for PUSCH transmission #A are slots #3, #4, #7, and #8, and therefore the timing of the end of the first PUSCH transmission #A is slot #8. Therefore, slot #8 may be set as the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0165] For example, as shown in Fig. 13 , when K2 = 7 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B, the uplink slots actually used for PUSCH transmission #B are slots #9 and #13. Therefore, slot #9 may be set as a criterion for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling is performed for PUSCH transmission #B. In this case, because slot #9 actually used for PUSCH transmission #B is later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is performed.

[0166] 13 , for example, if terminal 200 is notified of K2=6 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B and PUSCH transmission #B in slot #8 is dropped, the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B is slot #9. Therefore, slot #9 may be set as a criterion for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling is performed for PUSCH transmission #B. In this case, because slot #9 actually used for PUSCH transmission #B is later than the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), terminal 200 determines that in-order scheduling is performed.

[0167] 13 , for example, when K2=2 is notified to terminal 200 by scheduling DCI for PUSCH #B and PUSCH transmission #B in slot #7 is dropped, the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B is slot #4. Therefore, slot #4 may be set as a criterion for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling is occurring for PUSCH transmission #B. In this case, because slot #4 actually used for PUSCH transmission #B occurs before the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH: slot #8), terminal 200 determines that out-of-order scheduling is occurring.

[0168] In this embodiment, if the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is determined based on the slots actually used for PDSCH transmission #B, is before the last timing of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on the slots available for PDSCH transmission #A, terminal 200 determines that this is not in-order scheduling (e.g., specified scheduling), in other words, that this is out-of-order scheduling.

[0169] In this way, as in embodiment 1, for example, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission, the timing of the end of PUSCH transmission #A (the end of the first PUSCH) and the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled are clearly defined for determining whether or not out-of-order scheduling occurs. Thus, terminal 200 can appropriately determine whether or not PUSCH transmission allocation is out-of-order scheduling.

[0170] Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B is set as the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, and therefore, even if the range of values ​​that can be indicated by the value of K2 is narrow, it is possible to allocate PUSCH transmission #B without causing out-of-order scheduling. For example, in the example shown in Fig. 13 , when the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs is set by the value of K2 as in embodiment 1, K2 = 7 or more is set to allocate PUSCH transmission #B without causing out-of-order scheduling, whereas according to the present embodiment, it is possible to allocate PUSCH transmission #B without causing out-of-order scheduling even when K2 = 6.

[0171] The above describes the embodiments according to non-limiting examples of the present disclosure.

[0172] (Other embodiments) (1) In NR Rel.15 / 16, for any two HARQ process IDs, HARQ process ID #A and HARQ process ID #B, it is not expected that PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., corresponding to HARQ process ID #A) and PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., corresponding to HARQ process ID #B) will be scheduled to overlap in time.

[0173] Hereinafter, for any two HARQ process IDs #A and #B, scheduling PUSCH transmission #A and PUSCH transmission #B to overlap in time will be referred to as "PUSCH overlapping."

[0174] The NR Rel. 15 / 16 standard mentions that PUSCH overlapping is not assumed as follows (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 6): "For any HARQ process ID(s) in a given scheduled cell, the UE is not expected to transmit a PUSCH that overlaps in time with another PUSCH."

[0175] Since PUSCH overlapping is not assumed in terminal 200, the operation of the terminal in the case of PUSCH overlapping is not defined in the standard. Therefore, for example, base station 100 is expected to schedule PUSCHs so as to prevent PUSCH overlapping.

[0176] For example, the above-described embodiments may be applied to determining PUSCH overlapping in addition to or instead of determining out-of-order scheduling.

[0177] For example, when the operation of the first embodiment is applied to PUSCH overlapping, terminal 200 determines whether PUSCH overlapping occurs based on whether the transmission of PUSCH #A determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A overlaps in time with the transmission of another PUSCH different from PUSCH #A. In this case, the timing of PUSCH #A transmission determined based on the uplink slots available for PUSCH transmission #A does not need to depend on the operation of not transmitting the PUSCH (for example, the operation of dropping the PUSCH transmission) due to dynamic notification.

[0178] Furthermore, for example, when the operation of embodiment 2 is applied to PUSCH overlapping, terminal 200 may determine whether PUSCH overlapping occurs based on whether the actual transmission of PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., the slot actually used) and the transmission of another PUSCH different from PUSCH #A overlap in time.

[0179] In addition, the timing at which transmission of another PUSCH different from PUSCH#A is scheduled may be determined based on information regarding the timing from the slot in which DCI scheduling transmission of the PUSCH is received to the time when the PUSCH is transmitted (e.g., the value of K2), the uplink slots that can be used for transmitting the PUSCH, or the uplink slots that are actually used for transmitting the PUSCH.

[0180] (2) In the above-described embodiment, the case where repetition is used in slot units has been described. However, the unit of repetition is not limited to slot units. For example, it may be a mini-slot (sub-slot) unit in which a slot is divided into multiple units, a multi-slot unit consisting of multiple slots, or a symbol unit.

[0181] (3) In the above-described embodiment, out-of-order handling of two PUSCHs has been described, but the number of PUSCHs that are targets for determining out-of-order scheduling is not limited to two. The above-described embodiment may also be applied to a case where there are three or more PUSCHs. When there are three or more PUSCHs, the above-described embodiment may be applied to two consecutive PUSCHs in the order in which terminal 200 receives DCI that schedules the PUSCHs.

[0182] (4) In the above-described embodiment, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #A, the timing of the end of the first PUSCH, which is the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is either an uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., embodiment 1, 3, or 4) or an uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #A (e.g., embodiment 2).

[0183] Furthermore, when PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to PUSCH transmission #B, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which serves as a criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, is any one of the timing based on the value of K2 (e.g., embodiment 1 or 2), an uplink slot available for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., embodiment 3), and an uplink slot actually used for PUSCH transmission #B (e.g., embodiment 4).

[0184] The timing of the end of the first PUSCH transmission of PUSCH #A and the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which are criteria for determining whether out-of-order scheduling occurs, may be set to any of the above-mentioned timings.

[0185] For example, in the second embodiment, the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is the criterion for determining whether out-of-order scheduling is occurring, may be an uplink slot that can be used for PUSCH transmission #B (for example, the third embodiment) or an uplink slot that is actually used for PUSCH transmission #B (for example, the fourth embodiment), instead of the timing based on the value of K2.

[0186] For example, terminal 200 may determine that it is out-of-order scheduling (or not in-order scheduling) if the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is determined based on slots available for PUSCH transmission #B, is before the last timing of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on slots actually used for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0187] Furthermore, for example, terminal 200 may determine that it is out-of-order scheduling (or not in-order scheduling) if the timing at which PUSCH transmission #B is scheduled, which is determined based on the slots actually used for PUSCH transmission #B, is before the last timing of PUSCH transmission #A, which is determined based on the slots actually used for PUSCH transmission #A.

[0188] (5) In the above-described embodiments, PUSCH transmission has been described as uplink transmission. However, the channel used for uplink transmission is not limited to PUSCH and may be another channel. Furthermore, the type of information to be transmitted is not limited to data and may be another type of information (e.g., an uplink control signal). Furthermore, an embodiment of the present disclosure is not limited to uplink transmission and may be applied to downlink transmission or sidelink transmission.

[0189] Furthermore, the parameters such as the number of slots, the number of symbols, the symbol positions, the value of K2, and the number of repetitions exemplified in this disclosure are merely examples, and other values ​​may be used.

[0190] In addition, in the present disclosure, Repetition may be referred to as, for example, slot aggregation, slot bundling, TTI aggregation, or TTI bundling.

[0191] The present disclosure may be applied to communication between terminals, such as sidelink communication, for example.

[0192] Furthermore, in the present disclosure, the downlink control channel, downlink data channel, uplink control channel, and uplink data channel are not limited to PDCCH, PDSCH, PUCCH, and PUSCH, respectively, and may be control channels with other names.

[0193] Furthermore, in the present disclosure, RRC signaling is assumed as higher layer signaling, but it may be replaced with Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling and notification by DCI, which is physical layer signaling.

[0194] (Supplementary Note) Information indicating whether the terminal 200 supports the functions, operations, or processes described in each of the above-described embodiments and each supplementary note may be transmitted (or notified) from the terminal 200 to the base station 100, for example, as capability information or capability parameters of the terminal 200.

[0195] The capability information may include an information element (IE) that individually indicates whether or not the terminal 200 supports at least one of the functions, operations, or processes described in the above-described embodiments, modifications, and supplements. Alternatively, the capability information may include an information element that indicates whether or not the terminal 200 supports a combination of any two or more of the functions, operations, or processes described in the above-described embodiments, modifications, and supplements.

[0196] For example, the base station 100 may determine (or decide or assume) the functions, operations, or processes that the terminal 200 that transmitted the capability information supports (or does not support) based on the capability information received from the terminal 200. The base station 100 may perform operations, processes, or controls according to the determination result based on the capability information. For example, the base station 100 may control uplink-related processing based on the capability information received from the terminal 200.

[0197] Note that the fact that terminal 200 does not support some of the functions, operations, or processes described in the above-described embodiments, modifications, and supplementary notes may be interpreted as meaning that such some of the functions, operations, or processes are restricted in terminal 200. For example, information or a request regarding such restrictions may be notified to base station 100.

[0198] Information regarding the capabilities or limitations of terminal 200 may, for example, be defined in a standard, or may be implicitly notified to base station 100 in association with information known at base station 100 or information transmitted to base station 100.

[0199] The above has described the embodiments, modifications, and supplementary notes according to a non-limiting example of the present disclosure.

[0200] (Control Signal) In the present disclosure, a downlink control signal (information) related to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted by a PDCCH of a physical layer, or may be a signal (information) transmitted by a MAC CE (Control Element) or RRC of a higher layer. Also, the downlink control signal may be a signal (information) that is specified in advance.

[0201] The uplink control signal (information) related to the present disclosure may be a signal (information) transmitted on a PUCCH in the physical layer, or a signal (information) transmitted on a MAC CE or RRC in a higher layer. The uplink control signal may also be a predefined signal (information). The uplink control signal may also be replaced with uplink control information (UCI), 1st stage sidelink control information (SCI), or 2nd stage SCI.

[0202] (Base Station) In the present disclosure, a base station may be a TRP (Transmission Reception Point), a cluster head, an access point, an RRH (Remote Radio Head), an eNodeB (eNB), a gNodeB (gNB), a BS (Base Station), a BTS (Base Transceiver Station), a parent device, a gateway, or the like. In sidelink communication, the base station may be replaced with a terminal. The base station may be a relay device that relays communication between an upper node and a terminal. The base station may be a roadside unit.

[0203] (Uplink / Downlink / Sidelink) The present disclosure may be applied to any of the uplink, downlink, and sidelink. For example, the present disclosure may be applied to the uplink PUSCH, PUCCH, and PRACH, the downlink PDSCH, PDCCH, and PBCH, and the sidelink PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel), PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel), and PSBCH (Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel).

[0204] The PDCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, and PUCCH are examples of a downlink control channel, a downlink data channel, an uplink data channel, and an uplink control channel. The PSCCH and PSSCH are examples of a sidelink control channel and a sidelink data channel. The PBCH and PSBCH are examples of broadcast channels, and the PRACH is an example of a random access channel.

[0205] (Data Channel / Control Channel) The present disclosure may be applied to either a data channel or a control channel. For example, the channels of the present disclosure may be replaced with data channels such as PDSCH, PUSCH, and PSSCH, and control channels such as PDCCH, PUCCH, PBCH, PSCCH, and PSBCH.

[0206] (Reference Signal) In the present disclosure, a reference signal is a signal known by both a base station and a terminal, and may also be referred to as an RS (Reference Signal) or a pilot signal. The reference signal may be any of DMRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal), TRS (Tracking Reference Signal), PTRS (Phase Tracking Reference Signal), CRS (Cell-specific Reference Signal), and SRS (Sounding Reference Signal).

[0207] (Time Interval) In the present disclosure, the unit of time resource is not limited to one or a combination of slots and symbols, but may be, for example, a time resource unit such as a frame, a superframe, a subframe, a slot, a time slot, a subslot, a minislot, a symbol, an OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) symbol, or an SC-FDMA (Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access) symbol, or another time resource unit. Furthermore, the number of symbols included in one slot is not limited to the number of symbols exemplified in the above-mentioned embodiment, and may be another number of symbols.

[0208] (Frequency Band) The present disclosure may be applied to either a licensed band or an unlicensed band.

[0209] (Communication) The present disclosure may be applied to communication between a base station and a terminal (Uu link communication), communication between terminals (Sidelink communication), and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. For example, the channels of the present disclosure may be replaced with PSCCH, PSSCH, PSFCH (Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel), PSBCH, PDCCH, PUCCH, PDSCH, PUSCH, or PBCH.

[0210] The present disclosure may be applied to a terrestrial network, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) using satellites or highly advanced pseudo satellites (HAPS), or a terrestrial network in which the transmission delay is large compared to the symbol length or slot length, such as a network with a large cell size or an ultra-wideband transmission network.

[0211] (Antenna Port) An antenna port refers to a logical antenna (antenna group) consisting of one or more physical antennas. In other words, an antenna port does not necessarily refer to a single physical antenna, but may refer to an array antenna consisting of multiple antennas. For example, the number of physical antennas an antenna port consists of is not specified, but it is specified as the smallest unit by which a terminal can transmit a reference signal. An antenna port may also be specified as the smallest unit by which a weighting of a precoding vector is multiplied.

[0212] 5G NR System Architecture and Protocol Stack 3GPP continues work on the next release of fifth-generation cellular technology (also referred to simply as "5G"), which includes the development of new radio access technology (NR) operating in the frequency range up to 100 GHz. The first version of the 5G standard was completed at the end of 2017, allowing for the prototyping and commercial deployment of 5G NR-compliant devices (e.g., smartphones).

[0213] For example, the system architecture generally assumes a Next Generation - Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) comprising gNBs. The gNBs provide UE-side termination of the NG radio access user plane (SDAP / PDCP / RLC / MAC / PHY) and control plane (RRC) protocols. The gNBs are connected to each other via an Xn interface. The gNBs are also connected to a Next Generation Core (NGC) via a Next Generation (NG) interface, more specifically to an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) (e.g., a specific core entity performing AMF) via an NG-C interface, and to a User Plane Function (UPF) (e.g., a specific core entity performing UPF) via an NG-U interface. The NG-RAN architecture is shown in Figure 14 (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.6.0, section 4).

[0214] The NR user plane protocol stack (see, for example, 3GPP TS 38.300, section 4.4.1) includes a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) sublayer (see Section 6.4 of TS 38.300), a Radio Link Control (RLC) sublayer (see Section 6.3 of TS 38.300), and a Medium Access Control (MAC) sublayer (see Section 6.2 of TS 38.300), which are terminated on the network side in the gNB. A new Access Stratum (AS) sublayer (Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP)) has also been introduced above PDCP (see, for example, Section 6.5 of 3GPP TS 38.300). A control plane protocol stack has also been defined for the NR (see, for example, Section 4.4.2 of TS 38.300). An overview of Layer 2 functions is provided in Section 6 of TS 38.300. The functions of the PDCP sublayer, RLC sublayer, and MAC sublayer are listed in clauses 6.4, 6.3, and 6.2 of TS 38.300, respectively. The functions of the RRC layer are listed in clause 7 of TS 38.300.

[0215] For example, the Medium-Access-Control layer handles logical channel multiplexing and scheduling and scheduling-related functions, including handling various numerologies.

[0216] For example, the physical layer (PHY) is responsible for coding, PHY HARQ processing, modulation, multi-antenna processing, and mapping of signals to appropriate physical time-frequency resources. The physical layer also handles mapping of transport channels to physical channels. The physical layer provides services to the MAC layer in the form of transport channels. A physical channel corresponds to a set of time-frequency resources used for transmitting a specific transport channel, and each transport channel is mapped to a corresponding physical channel. For example, physical channels include the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), and the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) as uplink physical channels, and the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and the Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) as downlink physical channels.

[0217] NR use cases / deployment scenarios may include enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communication (mMTC), which have diverse requirements in terms of data rate, latency, and coverage. For example, eMBB is expected to support peak data rates (20 Gbps in the downlink and 10 Gbps in the uplink) and effective (user-experienced) data rates approximately three times higher than those offered by IMT-Advanced. On the other hand, URLLC imposes stricter requirements on ultra-low latency (0.5 ms for user plane latency in both UL and DL) and high reliability (1-10-5 within 1 ms). Finally, mMTC preferably requires high connection density (1,000,000 devices / km in urban environments).２ ), wide coverage in adverse environments, and extremely long battery life (15 years) for a low-cost device may be desired.

[0218] Therefore, OFDM numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing, OFDM symbol length, cyclic prefix (CP) length, number of symbols per scheduling interval) suitable for one use case may not be valid for another use case. For example, low-latency services may preferably require a shorter symbol length (and therefore a larger subcarrier spacing) and / or fewer symbols per scheduling interval (also referred to as TTI) than mMTC services. Furthermore, deployment scenarios with large channel delay spreads may preferably require a longer CP length than scenarios with short delay spreads. The subcarrier spacing may be optimized accordingly to maintain similar CP overhead. NR may support one or more subcarrier spacing values. Correspondingly, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, etc. are currently considered. The symbol length Tu and subcarrier spacing Δf are directly related by the formula Δf = 1 / Tu. Similar to LTE systems, the term "resource element" can be used to mean the smallest resource unit consisting of one subcarrier for the length of one OFDM / SC-FDMA symbol.

[0219] In the new radio system 5G-NR, for each numerology and each carrier, a resource grid of subcarriers and OFDM symbols is defined for each uplink and downlink. Each element of the resource grid is called a resource element and is specified based on a frequency index in the frequency domain and a symbol position in the time domain (see 3GPP TS 38.211 v15.6.0).

[0220] <Functional Separation Between NG-RAN and 5GC in 5G NR> Figure 15 shows the functional separation between NG-RAN and 5GC. The logical node of NG-RAN is gNB or ng-eNB. 5GC has logical nodes AMF, UPF, and SMF.

[0221] For example, gNB and ng-eNB host the following main functions: - Radio Resource Management functions such as Radio Bearer Control, Radio Admission Control, Connection Mobility Control, dynamic allocation (scheduling) of resources to UEs in both uplink and downlink; - IP header compression, ciphering and integrity protection of data; - AMF selection at UE attach time if routing to the AMF cannot be determined from the information provided by the UE; - Routing of user plane data towards the UPF; - Routing of control plane information towards the AMF; - Connection setup and release; - Scheduling and transmission of paging messages; - Scheduling and transmission of system broadcast information (sourced from the AMF or Operation, Admission, Maintenance (OAM)); - Configuration of measurements and measurement reports for mobility and scheduling; - Transport level packet marking in the uplink; - Session management; Support for network slicing; - QoS flow management and mapping to data radio bearers; - Support for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE state; - NAS message delivery function; - Radio access network sharing; - Dual connectivity; - Close coordination between NR and E-UTRA.

[0222] The Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) hosts the following main functions: - Termination of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling; - Security of NAS signaling; - Security control of Access Stratum (AS); - Signaling between Core Network (CN) nodes for mobility between 3GPP access networks; - Reachability to idle mode UEs (including control and execution of paging retransmissions); - Registration area management; - Support for intra-system and inter-system mobility; - Access authentication; - Access authorization including checking of roaming rights; - Mobility management control (subscription and policy); - Support for network slicing; - Selection of Session Management Function (SMF).

[0223] Furthermore, the User Plane Function (UPF) hosts the following main functions: - anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (if applicable); - external PDU (Protocol Data Unit) session point for interconnection with data networks; - packet routing and forwarding; - packet inspection and policy rule enforcement for the user plane part; - traffic usage reporting; - uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to the data network; - branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions; - QoS processing for the user plane (e.g. packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement); - uplink traffic validation (mapping of SDF to QoS flows); - downlink packet buffering and triggering of downlink data notifications.

[0224] Finally, the Session Management Function (SMF) hosts the following main functions: session management; allocation and management of IP addresses for UEs; selection and control of UPF; configuration of traffic steering in the User Plane Function (UPF) to route traffic to the appropriate destination; policy enforcement and QoS of the control part; downlink data notification.

[0225] <RRC connection setup and reconfiguration procedure> Figure 16 shows some of the interactions between the UE, gNB, and AMF (5GC entities) when the UE transitions from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED in the NAS part (see TS 38.300 v15.6.0).

[0226] RRC is a higher layer signaling (protocol) used to configure the UE and gNB. With this transition, the AMF prepares UE context data (including, for example, PDU session context, security keys, UE radio capabilities, UE security capabilities, etc.) and sends it to the gNB along with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP REQUEST. The gNB then activates AS security together with the UE. This is done by the gNB sending a SecurityModeCommand message to the UE, and the UE responding with a SecurityModeComplete message to the gNB. The gNB then sends an RRCReconfiguration message to the UE, and upon receiving an RRCReconfigurationComplete from the UE, the gNB performs reconfiguration to set up Signaling Radio Bearer 2 (SRB2) and Data Radio Bearer (DRB). For signaling-only connections, the steps related to RRCReconfiguration are omitted because SRB2 and DRB are not set up. Finally, the gNB notifies the AMF that the setup procedure is complete with an INITIAL CONTEXT SETUP RESPONSE.

[0227] Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a 5th Generation Core (5GC) entity (e.g., AMF, SMF, etc.) that includes: a control circuit that, upon operation, establishes a Next Generation (NG) connection with a gNodeB; and a transmitter that, upon operation, transmits an initial context setup message to the gNodeB via the NG connection so that a signaling radio bearer between the gNodeB and a user equipment (UE) is set up. Specifically, the gNodeB transmits Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, including a resource allocation configuration information element (IE), to the UE via the signaling radio bearer. The UE then transmits in uplink or receives in downlink based on the resource allocation configuration.

[0228] <IMT Usage Scenarios Beyond 2020> Figure 17 shows some use cases for 5G NR. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project New Radio (3GPP NR) is considering three use cases envisioned by IMT-2020 to support a wide variety of services and applications. The first phase of specifications for enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) has been completed. Current and future work includes standardization for ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine-type communications (mMTC), in addition to expanding support for eMBB. Figure 17 shows some examples of envisioned usage scenarios for IMT beyond 2020 (see, for example, ITU-R M.2083 Figure 2).

[0229] The URLLC use case has stringent performance requirements for throughput, latency, and availability. It is envisioned as one of the enabling technologies for future applications such as wireless control of industrial production or manufacturing processes, remote medical surgery, automated power transmission and distribution in smart grids, and road safety. URLLC's ultra-high reliability is supported by identifying technologies that meet the requirements set by TR 38.913. Key requirements for NR URLLC in Release 15 include a target user plane latency of 0.5 ms on the uplink (UL) and 0.5 ms on the downlink (DL). The overall URLLC requirement for a single packet transmission is a block error rate (BLER) of 1E-5 for a 32-byte packet size with a user plane latency of 1 ms.

[0230] From a physical layer perspective, reliability can be improved in many possible ways. Current room for reliability improvement includes defining a separate CQI table for URLLC, more compact DCI formats, PDCCH repetition, etc. However, this room can be expanded to achieve ultra-high reliability as NR (with respect to the key requirements of NR URLLC) becomes more stable and developed. Specific use cases for NR URLLC in Release 15 include Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality (AR / VR), e-health, e-safety, and mission-critical applications.

[0231] Additionally, the technology enhancements targeted by NR URLLC aim to improve latency and reliability. Technology enhancements for latency improvement include configurable numerology, non-slot-based scheduling with flexible mapping, grant-free (configured grant) uplink, slot-level repetition in the data channel, and preemption in the downlink. Preemption means that a transmission with already allocated resources is stopped and the already allocated resources are used for another transmission with a later requested lower latency / higher priority. Therefore, a previously allowed transmission is preempted by a later transmission. Preemption is applicable regardless of the specific service type. For example, a transmission of service type A (URLLC) may be preempted by a transmission of service type B (eMBB, etc.). Technology enhancements for reliability improvement include a dedicated CQI / MCS table for a target BLER of 1E-5.

[0232] The use case of mMTC (massive machine type communication) is characterized by a very large number of connected devices that typically transmit relatively small amounts of data that are not sensitive to delays. These devices are required to be low-cost and have very long battery life. From the NR perspective, utilizing very narrow bandwidth portions is one solution that saves power and extends battery life from the UE's perspective.

[0233] As mentioned above, the scope of reliability improvement in NR is expected to be broader. One of the key requirements for all cases, for example, URLLC and mMTC, is high or ultra-high reliability. Several mechanisms can improve reliability from a radio perspective and a network perspective. Generally, there are two to three key areas that can help improve reliability. These areas include compact control channel information, repetition of data channels / control channels, and diversity in the frequency, time, and / or spatial domains. These areas are generally applicable to reliability improvement regardless of the specific communication scenario.

[0234] For NR URLLC, further use cases with more stringent requirements are envisaged, such as factory automation, transportation, and power distribution, such as high reliability (up to 10-6 level), high availability, packet size up to 256 bytes, time synchronization down to a few μs (depending on the use case, the value can be 1 μs or a few μs depending on the frequency range and low latency in the order of 0.5 ms to 1 ms (e.g., 0.5 ms latency on the targeted user plane)).

[0235] Furthermore, for NR URLLC, there may be several technical enhancements from the physical layer perspective. These technical enhancements include PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel) enhancements for compact DCI, PDCCH repetition, and increased PDCCH monitoring. Also, UCI (Uplink Control Information) enhancements relate to enhanced Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) and CSI feedback enhancements. There may also be PUSCH enhancements related to minislot-level hopping and retransmission / repetition enhancements. The term "minislot" refers to a Transmission Time Interval (TTI) that contains fewer symbols than a slot (a slot comprises 14 symbols).

[0236] <QoS Control> The 5G Quality of Service (QoS) model is based on QoS flows and supports both QoS flows that require a guaranteed flow bit rate (Guaranteed Bit Rate QoS flows (GBR)) and QoS flows that do not require a guaranteed flow bit rate (non-GBR QoS flows). Thus, at the NAS level, a QoS flow is the finest granularity of QoS classification in a PDU session. A QoS flow is identified within a PDU session by a QoS Flow ID (QFI) carried in an encapsulation header over the NG-U interface.

[0237] For each UE, 5GC establishes one or more PDU sessions. For each UE, the NG-RAN establishes at least one Data Radio Bearer (DRB) for each PDU session, e.g., as shown above with reference to Figure 16. Additional DRBs for the QoS flows of that PDU session can be configured later (when this is up to the NG-RAN). The NG-RAN maps packets belonging to different PDU sessions to different DRBs. NAS-level packet filters in the UE and 5GC associate UL and DL packets with QoS flows, while AS-level mapping rules in the UE and NG-RAN associate UL and DL QoS flows with DRBs.

[0238] Figure 18 shows the non-roaming reference architecture for 5G NR (see TS 23.501 v16.1.0, section 4.23). An Application Function (AF) (e.g., an external application server hosting 5G services, as illustrated in Figure 17) interacts with the 3GPP core network to provide services. For example, it may access a Network Exposure Function (NEF) to support applications that affect traffic routing, or interact with a policy framework for policy control (e.g., QoS control) (see Policy Control Function (PCF)). Based on operator deployment, Application Functions considered trusted by the operator can interact directly with associated Network Functions. Application Functions not authorized by the operator to directly access Network Functions interact with associated Network Functions using an external exposure framework via the NEF.

[0239] Figure 18 further illustrates further functional units of the 5G architecture, namely, Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), and Data Network (DN, e.g., operator-provided services, Internet access, or third-party services). All or part of the core network functions and application services may be deployed and run in a cloud computing environment.

[0240] Therefore, the present disclosure provides an application server (e.g., an AF in a 5G architecture) comprising: a transmitter that, in operation, sends a request including QoS requirements for at least one of a URLLC service, an eMMB service, and an mMTC service to at least one of 5GC functions (e.g., an NEF, an AMF, an SMF, a PCF, an UPF, etc.) to establish a PDU session including a radio bearer between a gNodeB and a UE according to the QoS requirements; and a control circuit that, in operation, performs a service using the established PDU session.

[0241] The term "portion" used in this disclosure may be interchangeably used with other terms such as "circuitry," "device," "unit," or "module."

[0242] The present disclosure can be realized by software, hardware, or software in conjunction with hardware. Each functional block used in the description of the above embodiments may be partially or entirely realized as an LSI, which is an integrated circuit, and each process described in the above embodiments may be partially or entirely controlled by a single LSI or a combination of LSIs. The LSI may be composed of individual chips, or may be composed of a single chip that includes some or all of the functional blocks. The LSI may have data input and output. Depending on the degree of integration, the LSI may also be called an IC, system LSI, super LSI, or ultra LSI.

[0243] The integrated circuit method is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit, a general-purpose processor, or a dedicated processor. Also, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that can be programmed after LSI manufacturing, or a reconfigurable processor that can reconfigure the connections and settings of circuit cells within the LSI, may be used. The present disclosure may be realized as digital processing or analog processing.

[0244] Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI emerges due to advances in semiconductor technology or other derivative technologies, it is natural that such technology may be used to integrate functional blocks. The application of biotechnology, etc. is also a possibility.

[0245] The present disclosure may be implemented in any type of apparatus, device, or system (collectively referred to as a communications apparatus) that has a communications function. The communications apparatus may include a radio transceiver and processing / control circuitry. The radio transceiver may include a receiver and a transmitter, or both functions. The radio transceiver (transmitter and receiver) may include a radio frequency (RF) module and one or more antennas. The RF module may include an amplifier, an RF modulator / demodulator, or the like. Non-limiting examples of communication devices include telephones (e.g., cell phones, smartphones), tablets, personal computers (PCs) (e.g., laptops, desktops, notebooks), cameras (e.g., digital still / video cameras), digital players (e.g., digital audio / video players), wearable devices (e.g., wearable cameras, smartwatches, tracking devices), game consoles, digital book readers, telehealth / telemedicine devices, communication-enabled vehicles or mobile transportation (e.g., cars, airplanes, ships), and combinations of the above devices.

[0246] The communication devices are not limited to portable or mobile devices, but also include any kind of non-portable or fixed equipment, devices, and systems, such as smart home devices (such as home appliances, lighting equipment, smart meters or measuring devices, control panels, etc.), vending machines, and any other "things" that may exist on an IoT (Internet of Things) network.

[0247] Communications include data communications via cellular systems, wireless LAN systems, communication satellite systems, and the like, as well as data communications via combinations of these.

[0248] A communications apparatus also includes devices such as controllers and sensors connected or coupled to a communications device that performs the communications functions described in this disclosure, such as controllers and sensors that generate control and data signals used by the communications device to perform the communications functions of the communications apparatus.

[0249] The communication apparatus also includes infrastructure facilities, such as base stations, access points, and any other apparatus, device, or system that communicates with or controls the various apparatuses listed above, but are not limited to these.

[0250] A terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a receiving circuit that receives first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and receives second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information, and a control circuit that determines whether the scheduling is specified based on a first timing for transmitting the first data signal and a second timing for transmitting the second data signal.

[0251] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first timing is determined based on an uplink slot available for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0252] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first timing does not depend on an operation of not transmitting the first data signal in any of the uplink slots available for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0253] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the first timing is determined based on an uplink slot actually used for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0254] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second timing is determined based on information regarding the timing from a slot in which the second control information is received to a slot in which the second data signal is transmitted.

[0255] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second timing is determined based on an uplink slot available for repeated transmission of the second data signal.

[0256] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the second timing is determined based on an uplink slot actually used for repeated transmission of the second data signal.

[0257] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified scheduling if the second timing, which is determined based on information regarding the timing from the slot in which the second control information is received to the slot in which the second data signal is transmitted, is earlier than the first timing, which is determined based on slots that can be used for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0258] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified scheduling if the second timing, which is determined based on information regarding the timing from the slot in which the second control information is received to the slot in which the second data signal is transmitted, is earlier than the first timing, which is determined based on the slot actually used for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0259] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified scheduling if the second timing determined based on slots available for repeated transmission of the second data signal is earlier than the first timing determined based on slots available for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0260] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified one if the second timing determined based on the slots actually used for repeated transmission of the second data signal is earlier than the first timing determined based on the slots available for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0261] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified one if the second timing determined based on slots available for repeated transmission of the second data signal is earlier than the first timing determined based on slots actually used for repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0262] In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified one if the second timing determined based on the slot actually used for the repeated transmission of the second data signal is earlier than the first timing determined based on the slot actually used for the repeated transmission of the first data signal.

[0263] A base station according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a transmitting circuit that transmits first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and transmits second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; and a control circuit that determines whether or not the scheduling is specified based on a first timing for receiving the first data signal and a second timing for receiving the second data signal.

[0264] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a terminal receives first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, receives second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information, and determines whether the scheduling is specified based on a first timing for transmitting the first data signal and a second timing for transmitting the second data signal.

[0265] In a communication method according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a base station transmits first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and transmits second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information, and determines whether the scheduling is specified based on a first timing for receiving the first data signal and a second timing for receiving the second data signal.

[0266] The disclosures of the specification, drawings and abstract contained in Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-070126, filed on April 21, 2022, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0267] One embodiment of the present disclosure is useful in wireless communication systems.

[0268] 100 Base station 101, 205 Control unit 102 Upper control signal generation unit 103 Downlink control information generation unit 104, 206 Encoding unit 105, 207 Modulation unit 106, 208 Signal allocation unit 107, 209 Transmission unit 108, 201 Reception unit 109, 202 Extraction unit 110, 203 Demodulation unit 111, 204 Decoding unit 200 Terminal

Claims

1. a receiving circuit for receiving first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and receiving second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; a control circuit that determines whether or not a schedule is a specified schedule based on a first timing related to the transmission of the first data signal and a second timing related to the transmission of the second data signal; A terminal comprising:

2. The first timing is determined based on an uplink slot available for repeated transmission of the first data signal. The terminal according to claim 1.

3. The first timing does not depend on an operation of not transmitting the first data signal in any of the uplink slots available for the repeated transmission of the first data signal. The terminal according to claim 1.

4. The second timing is determined based on information regarding a timing from a slot in which the second control information is received to a slot in which the second data signal is transmitted. The terminal according to claim 1.

5. The second timing is determined based on an uplink slot available for repeated transmission of the second data signal. The terminal according to claim 1.

6. The control circuit determines that the second timing determined based on information regarding a timing from a slot receiving the second control information to a slot transmitting the second data signal is earlier than the first timing determined based on a slot available for repeated transmission of the first data signal, and determines that the scheduling is not the specified scheduling. The terminal according to claim 1.

7. The control circuit determines that the scheduling is not the specified scheduling when the second timing determined based on slots available for repeated transmission of the second data signal is earlier than the first timing determined based on slots available for repeated transmission of the first data signal. The terminal according to claim 1.

8. When PUSCH repetition Type A with available slot counting is applied to the repeated transmission of the first data signal, the first timing is determined based on uplink slots available for the repeated transmission of the first data signal. The terminal according to claim 2.

9. Information regarding the timing from a slot in which the second control information is received to a slot in which the second data signal is transmitted is a value of K2. The terminal according to claim 4.

10. An uplink slot available for repeated transmission of the first data signal or the second data signal is determined based on a slot format indication (SFI). The terminal according to claim 1.

11. An uplink slot available for repeated transmission of the first data signal or the second data signal is determined based on information regarding time resource allocation for repeated transmission of the first data signal or the second data signal. The terminal according to claim 1.

12. a transmission circuit for transmitting first control information for scheduling a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, and transmitting second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; a control circuit that determines whether a schedule is a specified schedule based on a first timing regarding reception of the first data signal and a second timing regarding reception of the second data signal; A base station comprising:

13. The terminal is For a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, receiving first control information for scheduling the first data signal and receiving second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; determining whether the scheduling is a specified schedule based on a first timing regarding the transmission of the first data signal and a second timing regarding the transmission of the second data signal; Communication methods.

14. The base station is For a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, transmitting first control information for scheduling the first data signal, and transmitting second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; determining whether or not the scheduling is a specified schedule based on a first timing regarding the reception of the first data signal and a second timing regarding the reception of the second data signal; Communication methods.

15. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a terminal, the processing comprising: For a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, receiving first control information for scheduling the first data signal and receiving second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; determining whether the scheduling is a specified schedule based on a first timing regarding the transmission of the first data signal and a second timing regarding the transmission of the second data signal; Integrated circuits.

16. An integrated circuit for controlling processing of a base station, the processing comprising: For a first data signal and a second data signal, at least one of which is repeatedly transmitted, transmitting first control information for scheduling the first data signal, and transmitting second control information for scheduling the second data signal after the first control information; determining whether or not the scheduling is a specified schedule based on a first timing regarding the reception of the first data signal and a second timing regarding the reception of the second data signal; Integrated circuits.